Creating Self Portraits

Katie has been working on completing a self-portrait at school.

We had very specific guidelines for our portraits.

Music Class

Katie has been excited because she is learning to play a ukulele in her music class, and she has a ukulele at home.

This is my "natural" pose with my ukulele.

We are learning how to strum the ukulele.

A Synonym Card Game

Katie was learning about synonyms at school and had fun playing a game with one of her best friends.

A game is even more fun when you get to play with a friend!

Costco to the Rescue

The rain came back this week, and Katie found out that her trusty raincoat had sleeves that were now too short. Luckily, Costco came through for Katie, and she now has a raincoat that fits.

As soon as I saw this coat, I knew it would be perfect for me!

Out Come the Slippers

You know the weather is starting to change when you see Katie with slippers.

I go barefoot as long as I possibly can in the year, but at some point, I have to cover up my feet!

A Late Night Snack

When Katie decided to have some nachos, Bingle decided she should probably have some too.

I know I could. share, but I decided to keep my food to myself.

Saturday Friend Time

When Katie's not at school, she's FaceTiming her friends.

I have so much fun with friends!

Straw Rockets

Katie had fun building a straw rocket and watching her teacher launch them.

We worked in the classroom while we constructed the rockets.

Then we all got to go outside to launch them.

Playing a Game

Katie continues to love 5th grade!

I had a lot of fun playing a word game with my friends!

Checking the Ceiling

Last weekend, we had a good amount of rain for the first time in a long time. My sister, Jennifer, called to say that she woke up to a leaky roof. Katie wanted to check out the leaks.

I felt bad that Aunt Jennifer had to deal with a leaky roof!

Curious Cats

While Katie worked on her picture, the cats got curious.

The cats always get curious when something new is out.

Making a Video

Katie is trying to perfect the art of making a time-lapse video while she sketches.

The tripod Aunt Jennifer gave me comes in handy for this.

Drawing Challenges

Katie and her friends give each other lots of drawing challenges. They work on their drawings and then share the completed product on text messages.

I worked on this drawing for over two hours!

Creating

Katie is having so much fun in 5th grade! She gets to do a lot of partner work, which makes her so happy.

We were creating solutions to our friend's food problems with only a piece of foil.

Time to Relax

When you reach Thursday night in a week at school, sometimes you've just got to spend some time relaxing!

Sometimes the couch is my best friend!

Seeing a Friend

Kai invited Katie for a playdate at his school playground, so he could celebrate her birthday with her. She was so excited to spend time with him.

Thank you so much for my gifts! I've already had fun sketching and playing with the putty!

Celebration

 Katie was excited when it was finally time to eat her double tomato.

It was doubly delicious!

Artwork

Katie still loves to draw. She often finds Youtube tutorials on how to draw and she practices and practices. She's turning into quite the artist.

I like to sketch lots of pictures.

Fidgets

The things I ordered earliest for Katie's birthday arrived the latest, ten days after her birthday. It was a nice surprise for her when they did arrive.

I love fidgets! They are so much fun!

Learning about Astrology

Katie has had a strong interest in learning about astrology lately.

I'm so happy with the books I got for my birthday!

Katie's Twin Tomatoes

When Katie was watering her tomatoes, she was both interested and excited to see two tomatoes that were growing together as one.

I've never seen tomatoes like this before!

Enjoying her Gifts

Katie bought herself some new colored pencils with her Amazon gift card, and they have been perfect for her anime coloring book that she got for her birthday.

It's relaxing to color after a day at school!

Time to Read

When Katie isn't examining all of her new birthday books, she's reading them!

Nothing beats snuggling down with a good book!

The Book Series

Katie was so excited when my sister gave her the Manga book series. She keeps getting her books out to look at them, put them in order, name all the characters, and whatever else she can do with the books. It's so fun to watch her!

Aunt Jennifer knows exactly what books I love!

The Cake

For her second pandemic birthday, Katie wanted a fun cake. She chose to get a cake with a Disney theme and dream of being in Disneyland.

Ariel was the first princess I ever loved!

The cake just made me happy!

Opening Gifts

After Katie's dinner choice of McDonald's, it was time to unwrap her gifts. You can always find birthday gifts from our family because 90% of the time they are wrapped in Christmas paper. Oh well, whatever works.  She was excited to start unwrapping!

I'm a pretty big Friends fan, so I got some Friends trivia cards.

I also got a book of brainteasers to solve with my friends.

Aunt Debby gave me a kit to make bracelets that I loved!

I was hoping to get a new drawing journal because I was out of pages in my other one.

Aunt Jennifer knows that I love Manga books (anime), and I was so happy to open my package and see some of those books.

I've been asking for Hungry, Hungry Hippos since I was in kindergarten, and Grandma got it for me which made me so happy!

Last, I opened more Manga books.

This was a great birthday!

A Surprise

When Katie got home from school, she had a present waiting at our door from Garyldine.

I found a lot of things at the door.

When I opened the bag, I found this snake, and...

...this snake.

She knows I like French fries and she got me some gummy French fries.

She got my a gift card, and...

...some more snakes! Thank you for the gifts and for making me laugh!

Happy 11th Birthday!

Katie had to go to school on her birthday, and Jennifer wanted to make it special for her. To surprise Katie, she left a little present in my classroom for Katie to find after school.

How did Aunt Jennifer know just what I would love?

A New Backpack

One of the things Katie looks forward to each school year is getting a new backpack. This year her backpack was back ordered and didn't get here for the first couple days of school. She was disappointed but was a good sport about it all.

When my backpack finally arrived, I had to check it out!

First Day of School

And all of a sudden, she's a fifth grader!

I'm more than happy to wear a mask to school if it means seeing my friends!

I'm so excited for my fifth grade year!